President Xi Jinping has warned his US counterpart, Joe Biden, against "playing with fire" over the issue of Taiwan. The two spoke in a phone call on Thursday, the first direct talks since March. It comes ahead of a possible visit to Taiwan by the US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi - which has been heavily criticised by China. Kenny Hodgart reports:

An international and independent China strategist says he does not see any substantial improvement in Sino-US ties, following the phone call between Xi and Biden. Andrew Leung said both sides saw there was a danger that relations could veer towards catastrophe if there were no "sturdy guardrails" in place. Leung also warned of a violent reaction from Beijing, if the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, went ahead with a proposed trip to Taiwan:

At least two dancers have been hurt onstage at a concert on Thursday night by popular boy band MIRROR. A large video panel fell from the ceiling, appearing to strike one dancer on the head before toppling onto another. The government has suspended the eight remaining shows. Vicky Wong reports:

Health authorities say they are concerned about the Covid-19 infection of a 22-month-old toddler, who is in a critical condition. The case has prompted a government pandemic advisor to repeat calls for parents to get their children inoculated. Frank Yung reports:

New figures from the Hong Kong Tourism Board show more visitors have flown into the city since the government lifted an entry ban on non-residents in May. But, as Wendy Wong reports, the number is still miniscule compared to pre-Covid levels:

An NGO says many outsourced workers who were infected with Covid-19 did not get paid sick leave, despite the amended Employment Ordinance. Under the law, employers are legally bound to pay staff who are absent from work due to the government's anti-epidemic measures. But the Caritas Youth and Community Service spoke to scores of cleaners infected during the fifth wave of the pandemic, and found more than half received no sickness allowance. Nicky Fan, a Caritas social worker, told Kelly Yu that more should be done to protect the rights of these workers:

A survey has found that six out of 10 people polled say the Covid pandemic affected their mental health so they were unable to carry out daily tasks. The survey was done by the New Life Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association between June and July, amid a rising number of Covid cases. The group says it is launching a online consultation platform to help people cope. Dr Amanda Cheung, a clinical psychologist from the association, told Ben Tse that the hybrid model of the platform - providing online advice and access to mental health professionals - would enable more clients to be served:

The Ombudsman is launching an investigation into the effectiveness of the government's 1823 enquiry platform, after receiving many complaints against the 24-hour service in the first five months of this year. Many of these came during the Omicron-driven surge in Covid infections, when over 60 percent of enquiry attempts went unanswered. Violet Wong reports:

Latest government figures showed gender imbalance in Hong Kong has taken a turn for the worse. Data also showed fewer people tying the knot last year, as Timmy Sung reports:

Former Shatin District Council chairman, Li Chi-wang, has been jailed for seven months after shouting insults at the police two years ago. He was earlier convicted of behaving in a noisy or disorderly manner in a public place, as Maggie Ho reports:

The Bank of China, HSBC, Hang Seng Bank and Standard Chartered are all keeping their best lending rates unchanged despite the latest hike in US interest rates. But the head of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority has told prospective home-buyers and those planning to take out bank loans to carefully assess the risks posed by increasing borrowing costs. Eddie Yue issued the warning as the authority again raised the base rate for interbank borrowing following the overnight move by the US central bank. Mike Weeks reports: